Traditions
Academic Procession
The academic procession is composed of the faculty, staff, officers, trustees and most honored guests of the University. Faculty enter by college, and each college is preceded by its marshal, a senior faculty member, with the college baton, described under University Regalia. The college banners are placed on the stage. Each banner is a combination of colors that declare the disciplines taught in that college.
Tassel Colors
Collegiate faculty follow their marshal in order of academic rank wearing academic costumes of medieval origin. Those who have received their degrees from institutions outside the United States wear costumes specified by the awarding institutions. Academic costumes of faculty whose degrees are from institutions in the United States are specified by a uniform code maintained by the American Council on Education. Caps are black and are usually mortar boards with tassels. Doctors of Philosophy wear gold tassels usually of metallic thread; other degrees wear black or discipline colors.
Attire
The bachelor’s gown is simple and black with long, pointed sleeves. Master's gowns, also black, are longer than bachelor's gowns. Older gowns have sleeves that terminate at the elbow, while those since 1960 have sleeves extended to the wrist. Doctoral gowns are full, with bell-like sleeves. The front is marked by velvet panels, and the sleeves are marked by three velvet bars. While most gowns are black with black velvet, one variation is to replace black velvet with velvet in the discipline color. A second variation is a colored gown usually of the university’s colors.
All hoods specify the level of degree, the type of discipline studied and the awarding institution. First, degree level is signified by the size of the hood, with bachelor's the smallest, master's larger and doctoral quite large and of a different shape. Clemson does not award hoods to bachelor's. The width of the velvet trim also conveys the degree. Secondly, the degree is indicated by the color of the trim edging the hood to form the throat over the gown. The most frequently seen is dark blue, which designates the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. Finally, the color of the hood’s lining specifies the awarding institution. The colors are displayed in combinations that are drawn from heraldry. Notice that the Clemson University hood is lined with purple through which is an orange chevron (a “V”). Although many combinations are duplicated by dozens of institutions, Clemson is presently the only institution with that registered combination.
The officers, trustees and honored guests wear academic, ecclesiastical or military regalia as set forth by their professions. The president of Clemson University wears a purple gown with four velvet bars piped in orange and the University seal embroidered on the panels. Each trustee wears a similar gown with three velvet bars piped in orange for doctorates and an embroidered palmetto tree on each sleeve for those who do not hold doctorates. Hoods are either from Clemson or from the awarding school. They are preceded by the University marshal. Clad in a gown of office in gold and purple, the marshal wears no hood and bears the University mace. At the ceremony’s close, the faculty do not exit as a part of the recessional but are dismissed, along with students and guests, when the marshal leaves the coliseum.
University Mace
The University mace is the symbolic representation of the whole of Clemson University and must be present at any convocation, where the University, through its delegated members, is acting officially. At any official convocation such as commencement, the University marshal, carrying the mace, precedes the president into the assembly. The mace rests before the president’s chair or speaker’s stand throughout the ceremony, and its removal from the assembly at the close of a convocation is symbolic of the official withdrawal of the University and, thus, the close of the proceedings.
The decorative design of Clemson’s mace is derived from the ceremonial maces carried by heads of the state and church in the Middle Ages. Its basic club-like shape, however, is much more ancient, probably going back to man’s prehistory. It is made of wood harvested from trees that once grew on the Clemson campus and includes carnelian (orange) and amethyst (purple) gemstones that represent the University’s colors. Amethyst is also the state gemstone of South Carolina.
Presidential Chain and Seal
The presidential chain and seal is symbolic of the authority vested in the Office of President by the governing body of the University. Only the University president may wear it, and while wearing it, he speaks for the whole body of the institution. Clemson’s chain and seal are made of silver and gold, and carnelian and amethyst. It was presented to President R.C. Edwards and used for the first time at the May 1971 commencement ceremony. The Clemson University presidential chain and seal were designed and executed by Mr. Robert Ebendorf. Mr. Ebendorf is the two-time winner of the Tiffany Award and one of the most acclaimed goldsmiths of our era.
The batons of the colleges also descend from medieval “staffs of office,” which were carried by the senior members of departments of state or church.
